Posts Tagged ‘derrick williams’

January 1, 2016 · 11:22 AM ET

ALL BALL NERVE CENTER — Like we always do at this time, let’s take a look at the best instances of people getting #POSTERIZED over the last week and, at the bottom of the post, you can place your vote for a winner. And don’t forget, if you see someone get posterized, tweet it with the hashtag #POSTERIZED so we don’t miss it!

By the way, welcome to 2016! I’m thinking we’ll continue with weekly #POSTERIZED polls until we get a little closer to the All-Star break, and then we’ll round up all the previous winners and crown a first half champ. We can do the same with the second half of the season, and then have a poll to select an overall winner as well.

Special shoutout to last week’s winner, Utah’s Alec Burks, as he goes for back-to-back wins this week. And let me say right here, I understand that Burks’ dunk this week generated some controversy — was it technically a dunk? Did he just throw the ball through the basket?

The beauty of the #POSTERIZED Poll is that it doesn’t even really matter. Did a player put someone else on a poster? Then that’s good enough for us!

Then there was last night in Minneapolis as the Wolves hosted the Lakers. Corey Brewer leaks out (surprise!) for a fast-break bucket off a Lakers miss and catches a dandy outlet pass from (double-surprise!!) Kevin Love. He’s got a couple steps on Nick Young, so he takes flight just inside the key … and … #DunkFail!

February 4, 2014 · 10:03 AM ET

ALL BALL NERVE CENTER — There are two sure-fire ways to make certain you make the highlights. One: You make a fantastic play. Two: You attempt to make a fantastic play and it doesn’t go as planned. Last night, with the Kings sitting on a huge lead late in the game against the Bulls, Kings forward Derrick Williams grabbed a steal and went in for the uncontested dunk. Williams tried to show some flair, but as you can see in the video above, it didn’t work out so well. (Hashtag #shaqtin.)

January 2, 2014 · 11:41 AM ET

It’s always been thought that if you can make those around you better, everyone wins. And there’s no better way to do that in the NBA than sharing the ball and putting your teammates in position to thrive. À la, the alley-oop.

What we’re starting to see lately in the NBA is an evolution of sorts of that all-to-familiar notion. Sure, Lob City is always fun. But now that we’re into the new year, it’s all about pushing things forward. And this season, we’ve been bearing witness to some creative two-way hook-ups: backboard alley-oops.

Pistons tandem Brandon Jennings and Andre Drummond kicked things off early in the season with one of the showiest of Showtime plays you’ve probably ever seen on the L.A. hardwood. Not to be outdone, Isaiah Thomas and new Kings high-flyer Derrick Williams brought the Hollywood show to northern Cali with their own backboard rendition.

As they’ve shown before, this is nothing new for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, who have taken a keen liking to the glass connection. They’ve pulled it off not once, but twice this season, with the second edition coming in front of a national audience on Christmas Day for all to see.

Is this the start of something big? Only time will tell. But at this point, there’s a new alley-oop sheriff in town and it’s being joined by its newest partner in crime, the backboard.

As always, make sure to check out the Dunk HQ, our rolling countdown of the season’s best jams!

March 2, 2012 · 9:57 PM ET

by Micah Hart

As everyone knows by now, the compressed NBA schedule will force every team to play three games in three nights at least one this season (42 times in total). With only 66 games to stake a claim to a playoff spot or seed, how teams perform during these killer slates could have a large impact on how their seasons turn out.

With that in mind, we’re going to keep track of each of the 42 three-plays to see which teams take advantage and which teams fall apart. Up next, the Minnesota Timberwolves, who played three straight from Feb. 28 – Mar. 1.

Game 1: Timberwolves 109, Clippers 97 – I get the feeling that if Derrick Williams goes on to have an All-Star caliber career, many will look back at this game as the first time he really flashed that kind of potential. Coming off a disappointing performance in the Dunk Contest, Williams dropped 27 on the Lakers off the bench, scoring inside and out as Minnesota started the second half right with a huge road win over the Clippers. 3 points (1 for win, 1 for road, 1 for +10)

Game 2: Lakers 104, Timberwolves 85 – Williams’ hot shooting at Staples unfortunately didn’t carry over the next night, as the Masked Mamba dropped 31 on Minnesota, which was playing without Kevin Love (illness). The T’wolves clearly missed their All-Star, as no player scored more than 14 points and the team shot just 5-19 from downtown without the league’s 3-point champion. -1 point

Game 3: Suns 104, Timberwolves 95 – Another game typical of what we might expect from a team finishing three games in three nights. The Timberwolves were in it early, leading by five at the half, before running out of steam in the second half and losing by nine. 0 points

2 points for the Timberwolves, just like the last time, but they did face a somewhat unique challenge in this one. Not only were all three of their games on the road (which we’ve seen only a handful of times this season), but each game was their opponent’s first game after the All-Star break. Maybe not such a big deal against the Clippers, but certainly a disadvantage against the Suns.

Up next: The defending champion Dallas Mavericks get their lone crack at the threeplay, with three straight contests Mar. 8-10.

December 17, 2011 · 11:47 PM ET

by Zettler Clay

As if there were anymore questions about whether “Minnesota nice” could tantalize us this season:

But this is All-Ball here, so clearly it isn’t just the dunk we’re focused on.

The principles in the play are two people you may have heard of in highly prized rookies Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams. But the extra who was the recipient of a roundball mush three seconds in the video? Darington Hobson, a rookie forward from New Mexico. And for the Hobson family, I’m sure this wasn’t the way they wanted their own to be introduced to the NBA ether. Well, unless they have a sense of humor.

Kudos to the multimedia department of NBA TV for squeezing in four mushes in a 17-second span.

Seen something that belongs on All Ball? Let us know viaemail or Twitter.